Greek Sweet Potato Fry Salad

I’ve been craving sweet potato fries for months and I’ve finally made them to satisfy that craving. These sweet potato fries are baked and I happen to think that they are better than some fried ones because they are not greasy. I don’t mind a “fried” fry every now and then but I’m not a fan of them if they’re greasy and limp. Blah… limp.

These baked ones are nice and crispy and super simple (no fancy seasoning, just salt and pepper).

If you stop here and the fries are all you make then that’s totally cool. However, I have a thing for fries with salads. I can’t explain why aside from the fact that I just love the combo of salty fries with healthy greens, veggies, and assorted salad foods.

I made a French fry salad last year and it is absolutely delicious. Ever since then I’ve been wondering if I could make a sweet potato version that was equally tasty. I used my sweet potato craving as a good excuse to test that theory.

How about a Greek sweet potato fry salad? When I mentioned the idea to my husband he asked if sweet potatoes were a Greek thing he didn’t know about. Nope. I just thought it would be a delicious combination of ingredients. Doesn’t the sound of salty feta cheese and olives, with crunchy cucumbers, lettuce, and crispy sweet potato goodness sound freaking amazing? Oh it’s beyond amazing. What’s beyond amazing? I don’t know. Amazeballs? Lol. It sounded good in my head. Let’s just say that this is the best salad that I’ve ever made. Seriously (and I’m not just saying that because I’m half Greek and all Greek food is the bomb digity… even though it is).

By the way, the lemon dressing carries with it all the flavors of tzatziki (cucumber yogurt) sauce, but without the yogurt. If you’re a fan of tzatziki then you’ll go crazy for this dressing. I told my husband that we need to make this dressing all the time now. True story.

Sweet Potato Fries Recipe
(About 1 to 2 servings)

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Cover a baking sheet with a silicon mat or tin foil. (They tend to stick to either foil or the pan due to the natural sugars in the sweet potatoes, so if you own a silicon mat I highly recommend you use it for this one.)

Peel and cut each sweet potato lengthwise. (Note that you can make them as thin or as thick as you like, but try to keep them all the same size or you’ll end up with some that are raw and others that are burnt. If you cut them thicker than mine, then you may need to keep them in the oven longer, depending on how done you like them.)

Toss the sweet potato pieces in cornstarch. The goal is to lightly coat them.

Toss the sweet potato pieces in 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Season the sweet potato pieces with salt and pepper.

Lay the sweet potato pieces in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake them for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. Flip the sweet potato pieces about half way through the baking time.

Greek Sweet Potato Fry Salad Recipe
(About 2 servings)

Ingredients for the Lemon Dressing:

2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon (dried) dill

Ingredients for the Greek Sweet Potato Fry Salad:

lettuce (I used Romaine.)

tomatoes, sliced in half (I used grape tomatoes.)

cucumber, chopped

feta cheese, crumbled

Kalamata olives, chopped (Other olives will work if you don’t have them.)

sweet potato fries (see above)

lemon dressing (see above)

Directions for the Lemon Dressing:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, pepper, salt, and dill.

Directions for the Salad:

For each serving, arrange the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese, Kalamata olives, and sweet potato fries on a plate.